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Managing your business’ social media accounts can be overwhelming, especially if you are not familiar with the latest trends or what works and what doesn’t. You can do a lot of the right things to increase your awareness but you also can do some not-so-right things that can have a damaging affect to your brand.
I don’t mean to scare you! So below, I have provided some basic best practices for social media.
1. Conduct an Audit of Your Current Social Media Presence
Take a look at your current followers, trends, content, and competition. This will help you understand who is already interested in your product/service, what kind of content those followers are interested in, and what your competitors are doing. If you are creating your social media profiles for the first time, look at the followers of your competitors and learn what you can about them.
2. Develop Your Target Demographic
You started your company because of the needs or wants of people who would be interested in your products/services; therefore, you should already have an idea of who should be targeted through your social media channels. If you’re unsure, consider age, location, gender, race, interests and income. Learn as much as you can about your audience so that when creating your content, you post something that will interest them.
3. Post Content That Your Audience Cares About
My favorite (because in my opinion, it is the most fun)! Now that you have an understanding of your current social presence and know who you should be targeting, it’s time to produce your content! Your content can be images, videos, blogs, interviews, company news and much more! Keep it original. Your content should be specific to your company and relevant to what your followers are interested in. Don’t be afraid to search for hot topics in your industry and post about them; just remember to put a spin on it and make it your own! Try to take your own photos to match the topic of each specific post. Between the quality of the camera on your smartphone and the filters you can use, you can make your photos look (semi) professional!
4. Expand Your Reach By Following Potential & Existing Customers, Partners, & Organizations
Many businesses often make the mistake of just posting. Now you might be wondering: what’s the problem with this approach? Isn’t content king? Yes, content is important, but if you don’t have any followers, then nobody will SEE what you’re posting. Remember that social media was originally made as a socializing tool. So, if you want to build your followers, then you have to socialize! Start by following potential and existing customers, partners, groups, and organizations. Approaching people in this way will make them take notice. Once you have their attention, engage with them! Share, like, and comment on posts that are interesting or noteworthy. Take a genuine interest in what they’re doing, and react to it accordingly. In time, they may start to engage with you too.
Don’t stress out over having the perfect social platform. Take your time learning about your demographic and what will interest them. This will help you build your platform organically. Overtime, there are other things that you can do to increase traffic on your page but let’s start simple. If you keep these four basic tips in the back of your mind when managing your account, you will be on the right track to building an engaging social media platform for your small business!
About The Author: Shay Cronin, MBA
Shay is the marketing manager of Cheshire Fitness Zone and Orange Pediatric Therapy. Shay attended Sacred Heart University where she received her B.A. in Marketing and her Masters in Business Administration. Shay specializes in social media and experiential marketing. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, friends and two dogs, trying new restaurants, running and the occasional Netflix binge.
